The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1887-10-27

II ~S53 A~0O1 OSA A0AOu A4NNA AORC
OF ever findin' my way out ag'in. Ye
see, the tact is, strangers, / was out
a-huntin' with a party Of ~fellers, an
in chasin' q wild deer we got separat-
ed in the woods, an afore I knew
was clean off my bearin's. I wander.
ed roun' an roun' fur hours, yellin' an
yellintur help, but nothin heard me
'cept the wild animals, Confound
their c~areassesl they gave me q chase,
but I shot 'em ar fast as they. came to
me, until I didn't have any more pow
der. Then I threw my rifle away, an
jes' kept this speakin' tube'-tapping
g. large navy revolver, as he spoke
'in case / was pressed too closely.
Waal, I did hevto use it onct or twice,
an it came in jes' at the right time.
When | struck this river, I thought
I'd follow its banks down till
I came to some village; then I'd be all
right. But I soon discovered that the
wild beasts were thicker N flies roun'
it's border, an I was jes' maxim pre-.
parations to strike out in the forest
ag'in when I heerd the whistle of your
boat. I waded as near the water as
could get. Then, jes' as the head
light OF your boat hove in sight,
one of them tarnal wild cats
began to growl and scratch close to
my heels.
"She came right atme a-growlin' an
kickin' up the leaves with her feet, an
snappin at me. Then I skunk away,
an caught a hold OF this tree, an
swung up in it's branches. The old
critter was q good climber too, an
she was at my heels the next mo.
ment. Then I began to set up a yellin'
to attract your attention, an when
ye was right under me I dropped.
That's the story, strangers"
Our visitors account OF his advent
ures was so plausible that we all felt
satisfied, and at once he became free
passenger. While I returned to nv
wheel, and started the tug under way
again, one of the deck handstook him
below to give him something to eat.
The excitement of the little adventure
soon died out, and in halt an hour I
had almost forgotten that we had
more passengers on board than our
usual number. I watched com.
placently the clouds drifting across
the face of the moon, forming fantas-
tic pictures against the soft light of
the sky. The scene was in harmony
with my feelings, and had duty not
dictated differently l should have
dropped peacefully to sleep.
But long service had made me sleep.
less when the spokes OF the wheel were
in my hand, and unconsciously I kept
my weather eye directed straight
ahead when the passage-way became
exceptionally narrow. As we crossed
one OF the open spaces in the river,
and were approaching the narrow
part of the stream again, my attention
vas attracted by the peculiar actions
of the tug. Her prov seemed to be
gradually heading towards the right
bank, where a dense growth of bushes
extended down to the waters
edge. Involuntarily I turned the
wheel in the opposite direc-
tion, and for q moment the boat
seemed endeavoring to obey her rud-
der. She struggled up stream for q
moment, then h~esitated, and again
headed toward the shore. With q
desperate jerk I threw the rudder as
far to the right as it could 90, deter
mined to make the vessel mind. But
to my surprise, she merely repeated
her former actions, and approached
within two yards OF the bank.
Feeling certain that something was
wrong, I struck the bell sharply for
the engineer to reverse the machinery.
She was checked at once, but not un-
til her PROV stuck in the mud near the
bank. I thought then I saw q human
form emerge from the bushes, but the
sudden backward movement of the
tug prevented me from seeing clearly.
By this time I had become anxious
lest something was wrong aboard the
boat, and calling one of the deck
hands, I told him to examine the
river ahead of US as we pro-
ceeded. Then, starting up stream
slowly again, ] held the spokes firmly
in my hand, and waited for further
developments. Once more the boat
began to act in the peculiar manner,
turning her prov gradually toward
the right bank. This was exasperat-
ing, and the machinery was again
stopped. Boat hooks were then bust
ly employed, searching in the water
for the obstruction.
"Lend us a hand here" suddenly
cried n of the men with the hooks,
as he seemed to be tugglng away at
something in the water. The next
moment he pulled UP to our view a
heavy cable rope that lay diagonally
across the river. 1t was stretched in
such g. manner that g. boat coming up
stream would not bosuddenly checked
in its Roadway, but would gradually
swing it's head around until it's PROV
ran straight into the right bank.
The discovery confirmed my fears
that attempts were being made to
capture the boat, but before / could
give orders to cut the cable, a flash
and a report from the right bank in.
formed us that our lives were in dan
ger. Reversing the engine, we started
the tug toward the left bank, to get
beyond the reach of bullets, if posi-
BILE. Here concluded to hold a con-
%sultation with my men, and prepare
for battle. In the shadow of the trees,
on the left bank of the river, we were
in such darkness that they could not
do much damage with their firearms,
though q stray bullet might pick one
OF as OF at any moment. There were
three Of us, all heavily armed, and des-
perate men, accustomed to dodge bull
let's, and to return ashot for shot.
The stranger would make the fourth.
but Of his courage, however, vi were
ignorant. He was still in the cabin
below, sleeping. as we supposed; but
when we went to rouse him, we found
ia orr chaOrin that ha had d~iaannear.